The invention relates to an electrical connector assembly and more particularly to an electrical connector having insulation displacement contacts being releasably secured in a base housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,892 teaches a known connector assembly wherein a number of contacts may be inserted into longitudinal chambers in a base housing. The contacts are held in the housing by means of outwardly projecting shoulders, arranged at the upper ends of the contacts, which bear against corresponding projections in the longitudinal chambers. In order to fix the contacts in the longitudinal chambers, a pressure plate housing is mounted from above on the base housing and latched thereto. In the latched-on position of the pressure plate housing, the contacts are secured against the projections inside the longitudinal chambers.
Each of the contacts comprises an insulation displacement end facing the pressure plate housing and an opposing contact end. The two ends are joined by a central zone, in which the generally two-part contact is held together by a connecting element mounted thereon. The longitudinal chambers typically comprise specific means such as projections against which corresponding retention means such as shoulders at the upper ends of the contacts bear when the contacts are in the inserted position. The base housing is capable of accommodating and positioning only those contacts which are constructed accordingly in the area of their insulation displacement ends. Moreover, the contacts are of relatively complex construction and have to be assembled from a plurality of individual parts.
It is therefore desirable to simplify the construction of the contacts and to construct the elements and the longitudinal chambers in the base housing such that different types of contacts may also be inserted in the connector assembly.
The invention provides an electrical connector having a base housing with a plurality of longitudinal chambers that each have at least one counter-latch element substantially in a central portion. Each counter-latch element is in latching engagement with a latch element constructed in the central zone of the contact when the contact is in the inserted position, irrespective of the construction of the insulation displacement end and/or the contact end thereof.